Intro:
This is PART 5 of the complete guide to all the Tank Heroes in the game. As the “Tank” category would suggest, these characters specialize in absorbing large amounts of damage, protecting the team so that everyone continues to survive. They generally have high Tenacity growth, which helps them deal with disables and keep on going. Each of them has a place in the game, so this guide will provide insight to each Tank hero’s value.
Disclaimer: This Guide will always be under construction, either through updating information or adding more content as more new heroes are released in the game. I will be doing updates accordingly for as long as I continue to play the game.
Rex
Overview
Strengths:
+Strong shield breaker
+Great spatial control
+Very high Evasion growth
+Mixed attacker
Weaknesses:
-Low damage
-No Tenacity
-No Sustainability
-Very specific niche
Gameplay:
Rex is one of the best shield breakers in the game, absolutely devastating the likes of Baymax and Violet. While his damage output is quite low, Rex’s utilities lean toward a more aggressive direction—appropriate for putting pressure on defensive teams. Rex is particularly good at putting the enemy team in a corner, but he can’t win fights all by himself. Because Rex is so specifically designed to break shields, his usefulness is often tied to the need for countering shields. Rex is otherwise outclassed by other Tanks if there’s no need to break shields. Still, his high pressure knock backs can be a benefit for teams that need that kind of aggression. He can be a good fit in Coliseum or Guild Wars, but he tends to be outmuscled in Invasion with the presence of Bo Peep.
Friendship Disks:
Rex has Friendships with Mike and Woody, both enhancing Rex’s overall performance. Woody’s disk increases Rex’s attack speed and also gives his team extra damage against shields. This is by far the more aggressive choice. Mike’s disk on the other hand gives Rex more HP and damage reduction the more allies he has that are “Damage” role. Technically speaking, Woody’s disk is more situational because it only gets its real value against shields. Mike’s disk is more applicable as long as Rex has Damage role allies.
Team Options:
Rex works pretty well with fellow Toy Story heroes. Ducky & Bunny and Duke Caboom are damage heroes that synergizes with Mike’s disk while also compensating for Rex’s lack of power. Goofy(Mi), Joy(An), and Kevin are all good teammates who can safeguard Rex from annoying Disables that would otherwise put a halt in his progress. Because Rex is very good and grouping enemies together, heroes that take advantage of that are also good choices. Heroes like Elsa, Simba & Nala, Jack-Jack, and Darkwing Duck can all benefit from this kind of aggressive style. You can also try fun teams that can perpetuate silence by teaming him up with Scar, Tia, and Meg.
Counters:
Without any amount of Tenacity to help him, Rex tends to be vulnerable to Disables. Olaf is very good at making things hard for him, even if Rex can evade some of the freeze attempts. Hercules is a very difficult wall for Rex to get past—his invulnerability makes him unmovable, and he can even push Rex back to undo a lot of his advancement. Similarly, hyper aggressive frontline heroes like Beast and Bo Peep are physically bigger threats that can easily outmuscle Rex. Quorra also exploits Rex’s weak physical presence and her Disc Spin absolutely devastates Rex and his weaker Reality stat.
Sally
Overview
Strengths:
+Impressive HP growth
+Very high Reality growth
+Second chance revive
+Backline pressure
+Very useful Friendship Disks
Weaknesses:
-Poor team protection
-Slow attacker
-No spatial/crowd control
-Restricted on Auto
Gameplay:
Should you pick Sally, Poison is the name of the game. Unlike most Tanks, Sally provides very little protection for her teammates aside from absorbing damage with her naturally large health pool as well as having a one-time revive to take on even more damage. Instead, she uses a very unique stacking mechanic to spread poison all over the battlefield. Sally’s Basic Attacks and offensive skills are all purely Fantastic damage, and her specialty is to put pressure on her enemies with damage over time. Targets affected by her poison have a transparent green bubble on their HP bar and this counts as one “stack” of poison. Each stack of poison will do a specific amount of damage over 10 seconds, and she may normally apply up to three stacks. Activating “Deadly Nightshade” will remove all poison stacks on enemies and will do a burst of damage, the potency becoming higher the more stacks a target had prior to activation. Sally is very good at spreading her poison even against backline targets because of “Frog’s Breath”. In the highly volatile competitive world of PvP, Sally can make use of her high Reality growth to try to force her way through certain Fantastic Damage specialists. Due to the nature of her skillset, she tends to be a poor choice for team Yellow’s Invasion week, but she can hold her own in City Watch, where she can freely apply more stacks of poison without being forced to activate Deadly Nightshade.
Fog Juice:
Sally’s Fog Juice is another example of a Red Skill that doesn’t need to be optimal in order to be effective. This skill completely takes advantage of Sally’s Poison mechanics and her natural endurance. Upon unlocking, Sally gets hefty bonuses to her Basic Damage, Skill Power, and Reality. The boosts to her Basic Damage and Skill Power greatly improves the potency of her Poison damage while the Reality boost further increases her resistance against Fantastic damage. The real meat of this skill is the more visible aspects of it. Whenever Sally is about to take a hit that’s worth more than 10% of her maximum HP, she reduces the damage taken by a whopping 80% and also retaliates by releasing a cloud of Poison that travels across the screen. This toxic cloud applies lethal damage per second and also 1 stack of Poison per 2 seconds to enemies that are in front of Sally. This instance may happen once every 8 seconds and every time it does, it becomes another opportunity to apply Poison to targets that Sally can’t normally reach. The 80% damage reduction is unfortunately the effect that gets reduced when the skill in under-leveled; even so, she is still reducing damage taken during that instance (of which is dependent on how far behind the skill happens to be). Even though this all sounds situational, this Skill actually happens to work wonders in practice. Sally may seem like a mediocre Tank, but this Skill highly amplifies her presence. Make it a priority to invest in this Skill should Sally be one of your main heroes.
Friendship Disks:
Sally’s Friendship Disks improve upon her offensive and defensive capabilities as a Tank. Tia’s disk makes Sally’s poison permanent, while also increasing the overall effectiveness, frequency, and potency of Deadly Nightshade. This disk further solidifies Sally’s off-tank nature, allowing her to rack up a ton of damage if left unchecked. It should be noted that Sally can now apply a maximum of four stacks of poison per target. Yax’s disk arguably makes Sally a much better Tank hero. It increases the Reality stat of the entire team as well as herself. Not only that, Tank allies get their Reality stat further amplified (including Sally herself), making up for the commonly lower Reality stat of most Tanks. Yax’s disk is great for softening otherwise devastating Fantastic damage. Both disks are very, very useful. Switch them around depending on the situation.
Team Options:
Sally can fit in a scare team as it amplifies her pure Fantastic damage-type Basic Attacks. Unsurprisingly, Jack Skellington is her best partner, along with Mike. Jack gives Sally some supplementary healing and a damage boost, and Mike’s stuns gives Sally a lot of breathing room in general. Speed boosters are useful for patching up Sally’s poor attack speed. Alice(Qu) is a particularly good choice because she can even provide Sally some extra Armor. Sally is not a main Tank, so she tends to work better in a multi-tank comp. Goofy(Mi), Hercules(Ma), and Hades(Me) are excellent Tank partners who work especially well with her.
Counters:
Sally tends to have losing match-ups against intense physical threats like Bo Peep, Beast, Gaston, and Mr. Incredible. Similarly, Peter Pan can fly in and out of Sally’s range and is incredibly difficult for Sally to stop. Olaf’s incredible resilience allows him to ignore most of Sally’s pressure, allowing him to freeze and slow her down. Merida and Robin Hood exploit her weaker Armor growth and they stay out of Sally’s immediate reach–they do have to watch out for Frog’s Breath however. Sally’s high HP growth makes her a top priority target for Maleficent’s Forest of Thorns. Sally is also generally weak to study comps, so watch out for Barbossa(Ti) and Aladdin.
Shank
Overview
Strengths:
+Incredible damage resistance
+Highest natural Armor growth
+Rising power levels
+Emergency comeback mechanic
+Very useful Friendship Disks
Weaknesses:
-Weak to Fantastic Damage
-Somewhat low HP
-Susceptible to True Damage
-No spatial control
Gameplay:
When it comes to Normal Damage, Shank has arguably the highest aptitude for taking such hits. Combined with her naturally high Armor growth and her passive ability to marginally negate a flat amount of damage altogether, Shank can take physical hits almost completely unfazed. She even has a self-healing skill in “Piston Slam” to help her stay in the fight. Amazingly, her most interesting trait is how she uses all that damage she takes as retaliation. “Final Lap” negates a certain amount of damage from every hit she takes. Not only does that help her endure incoming damage, it also stores that damage into power. When she activates Final Lap, that damage she absorbed gets added as extra damage being dealt by Shank’s car. Think of it like Black Panther’s Vibranium armor–he can absorb the energy he takes from getting attacked and releases all that energy all at once in retaliation. There is a specific limit to how much damage can be added, but this does not stop Shank from being able to continue negating damage even at full capacity. If Shank reaches maximum, her character portrait will glow orange. Shank is yet another hero who has a comeback mechanic, although hers is quite unique. Should her HP dip below 50%, she gives the entire team a great boost in Skill Power. For Shank, this enhances the numbers of Final Lap and Piston Slam, giving herself even more survivability. Almost all heroes can benefit from the Skill Power boost as well. Shank’s unique brand of protection and devastation can prove highly effective when going against teams that rely heavily on Normal damage.
Friendship Disks:
Both of Shank’s Friendship Disks improve her offensive and defensive capabilities but in different ways. Elastigirl’s disk further increases the amount of damage Shank can negate with Final Lap, making her even more resistant to most kinds of damage. Not only that, it increases the rate of Shank’s Energy gain, allowing her to release her stored power sooner and more frequently. Vanellope’s disk puts more emphasis on Shank’s Armor. This disk directly increases Shank’s Armor while also sharing a percentage of her Armor stat with rest of her team. Shank’s insane Armor growth means everyone will be given a hefty amount of Armor as well. Additionally, Vanellope’s disk improves Shank’s Basic Damage to make her a more competent brawler. Both disks are very good, so you can’t really go wrong either way.
Team Options:
Shank can be paired with Sally(Ya), Kevin, or Joy(Ol) to increase the team’s defenses. Those three especially put an emphasis on Reality, covering for Shank’s low Fantastic Damage resistance. Shank herself has no influence on enemy positioning, so she tends to work well with heroes who can push enemies back for her. Timon & Pumbaa(St) and Hercules(Ma) are the standouts, providing Shank with utilities she can benefit from. Shank granting Skill Power in a pinch means she should be teamed with heroes that benefit from that stat the most. Elsa, Duke Caboom, Alice, Dash, etc. are all very worthy teammates.
Counters:
Bo Peep and Beast are mixed attackers who send Shank reeling with knock backs that do a ton of Fantastic Damage. High bursts of Fantastic Damage in general cause her a lot of problems, so watch out for Ducky & Bunny, Jafar(Sc), and Anger. For that reason, Shank also tends to be weak against Scare teams, especially when going up against Jack Skellington, Mike, and Sulley. There is also no amount of Armor or damage negation that can help her against True damage. As such, Maui, the Queen of Hearts, and Stitch are all important threats. And lastly, because Shank relies heavily on Armor, she is countered by Armor shredders. There are many of them, but Simba & Nala(Mi) and Timon & Pumbaa(Sc) are the most problematic because they have attacks that do Fantastic Damage as well.
Sulley & Boo
Overview
Strengths:
+One of the highest natural HP growth
+Great burst damage potential
+Rising power levels
+After-battle healing
+Useful Friendship Disks
+High Reality growth
Weaknesses:
-Strict team options
-Very vulnerable early game
-Naturally low Armor growth
-Weak outside of Scare teams
-No spatial control
Gameplay:
Sulley & Boo were the original Scare masters, specializing in enhancing the performance of Fantastic Damage specialists including themselves. With their new and improved “Scream Power”, Sulley rises again to spread terror across the battlefield, while Boo helps him stay healthy or burst down foes. Scream Power gives Sulley & Boo more Skill Power and converts 50% of that stat into Armor, patching up his otherwise pitiful Normal Damage resistance while also increasing their threatening presence to rather menacing levels. Boo’s Healing Laughter is a unique healing move that can occasionally heal Sulley throughout the fight and also once more at the end of battle. This makes Sulley a uniquely suitable choice for City Watch and Invasion Breaker quests. Sulley can be taken to PvP, but he needs to be in a Scare team in order to be properly functional.
Friendship Disks:
Sulley & Boo’s Frienship Disks give them very strong new utilities that are great for different purposes and both disks further increase their Skill Power. Woody’s disk allow for Boo’s Healing Laughter to heal everyone, not just Sulley. Healing laughter already has an incredible healing potency, which is only further amplified by their naturally high “Improved Healing” stat–and that means that even at low levels, this disk can still heal a significant amount.This disk is a prime choice for them, especially for City Watch. This disk alone makes Sulley & Boo one of the absolute best heroes for City Watch. Ralph’s Disk on the other hand, focuses on their self-sufficiency. Sulley & Boo can now avoid getting Disabled and are slightly healed whenever they do. Unlike Woody’s disk, Ralph’s disk is much harder to build up to be dependable. It is only reliable once it reaches maximum stars, and when it does, they avoid all Disables 100% of the time. This disk is much more useful if Sulley & Boo are backed up by a main healer like Joy.
Team Options:
To be direct, Sulley & Boo are simply at their absolute best when they are in a Scare team. Utilizing Scare is the best way to get the most out of their skillset. While there are a handful of heroes that can use Scare, none are nearly as good at it as Jack Skellington and Mike Wazowski(Su). At minimum, Sulley must be paired with at least one of them. Sulley is very, very vulnerable to Normal damage and the only way he can overcome that by himself is to survive long enough to successfully use Scaring is Caring. You can imagine this is very difficult to do without any help. Jack and Mike have skills that can induce Scares very early on, allowing Sulley & Boo to quickly gain the boost they need from Scream Power. On top of enhancing Sulley & Boo’s overall performance, they also provide amazing utilities that are specifically tailored for Scares. Main healers like Joy, Mickey, or Miguel allow Sulley to get away with using Ralph’s disk. With it, Sulley & Boo can ignore Disables and are free to cause massive damage without hindrance. Should they be put in a non-Scare team, Sulley & Boo can somewhat fit in with muti-tank comps led by Hercules(Ma). Meg can link with Sulley in an attempt to keep him from getting KO’d, but Sulley’s weak Armor puts a big risk on Meg. Timon & Pumpaa(St), Rafiki(Ja), and Shank(Va) can attempt to patch up Sulley & Boo’s lack of Armor, but that does leave less room for a more consistent Scare comp.
Counters:
Armor shredders can easily trivialize the defensive effect of Scream Power, so watch out for Merida, Mr. Incredible(El), Miguel, Simba & Nala, and Timon & Pumbaa(Sc). Bo Peep(Wo) is by far the most threatening counter as she has overwhelming physical damage to go with that Armor shredding. Duke Caboom, Quorra, and the Beast similarly pose as large threats as they can easily out-muscle Sulley & Boo at close range. Sulley & Boo are also inherently weak to Study comps as they can soften them up. Study is also just easier and quicker to apply, especially when Barbossa(Ti) and Aladdin are involved.
Winnie the Pooh
Overview
COMING SOON